Add lively fun to your homework
when you mark your place with
bookmarks made from shrink art,
beads, and chenille stems.

Bookmark Buddies

• Beads and buttons in assorted colors
• DecoColor paint pens in assorted colors
• Goop glue
• 3/16-inch triangle-shape paper punch
• Chenille stems in assorted colors
• Ultra-fine-point black permanent marker
• Scissors (sharp manicure scissors work best for intricate areas)
• Transparent tape
• Shrinky Dinks bright-white shrinkable plastic

1. Download the free patterns for this project. (Downloading requires Adobe Acrobat software.)

Cat Bookmark pattern

Sun and Flowers Bookmark pattern

Crown and Face Bookmark pattern

Download Adobe Acrobat

2. Ask a grownup for a helping hand with this project. Place Shrinky Dinks plastic on top of the pattern. Tape the plastic to the pattern.

3. Trace the pattern onto the plastic with an ultra-fine-point black permanent marker. Remove the pattern.

4. Color the pattern areas you have traced onto the plastic, using paint pens in colors you like.

5. Use scissors to cut out the plastic shapes. Using the pattern as a guide, punch holes in the plastic.

6. Bake the plastic pieces following the manufacturer's directions.

7. Cut three 6-inch lengths of chenille stem. Bend the pieces of chenille stem back and forth into zigzag shapes, or twist around a pencil to make a coil shape.

8. Thread one end of a piece of chenille stem through one hole of the bookmark bottom piece.

9. Twist the chenille stem together to secure the end. Thread beads or buttons onto it in a pattern you like.

10. Thread the top end of the chenille stem through one hole of the bookmark top piece. Twist the chenille stem together to secure the end.

11. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the other two chenille stems.

12. To finish the cat bookmark, add a 3-inch piece of coiled chenille stem for a tail.